A few months ago I started building a Dino that ran in the 1972 Lemans race. Some of you may have seen it in pics from ACME meetings I've posted. I did a lot of work to the body, and scratch built some fender flares and a lip spoiler, and some rear brake scoops. I am building this using the Fujimi Enthusiast kit, and the sheer number of parts turned me off from continuing. I've heard these kits have fit issues and such, and I really want this one-of-a-kind race car to be as perfect as I can make it.
NOW ON TO WHAT THIS THREAD IS ABOUT.

One of the themes for ACME's annual show in November is Road and Track - Build a street and racing version of the same car. So I've decided to build the street version first to figure out any of the issues the kit may have, which will help me make the race car even better.

I will be building the targa Dino as my street car
Here is a few shots of the motor. I made up a whole new batch of curse words building the headers. They are 4 separate pieces each, and not the easiest things to keep straight until the glue dried. I'll be adding plug wires, and some coolant hoses that weren't in the kit.

The only other part I've completed on the race car is the intake/carb set up. Here is a comparison between the stock intake system, and what i'll be using for the race car. I used 3 resin carbs from Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland.

One of the chassis' was broken. I received this kit brand new and "sealed". The missing pieces were not in the box, so i'll have to scratch build the missing part for this car.

Love those carbs!
Pretty subject!

All is looking great so far! Keep up the awsoem progress.

insert smartass reply here

That's gonna be sweet. You still need me to bring the Dino picture on Sunday? Perhaps I need to bring the whole album, lots of drool-worthy model reference from that weekend.

Looks great with the carbs.
Isn't this one of those now rare Fujimi kits?

Oooh, the Dino GTS. Enzo Ferrari's beloved eulogy for his genius son.

And I have an Enthusiast Series Dino 246GT, so I feel your pain on the headers. The price we pay for ultimate plastic detail.

Nice subject.
that LM Dino body and engines looks great so far.

Nice start on both of the Dinos!

I've built several of those kits and have to say there are many problems on your way, but the end result will be worth it.

Do you have any reference photos of the interior of that race version? I built one few years ago:
http://public.fotki.com/nniemi/completed/dinos/dsc00049.html

Biggest problem was finding good reference material. Also wheels are a problem, as far as i know there aren't correct "campagnolo" wheels in 1/24 scale.

-Niko

Having seen CADguy's LM version in person, it is very nice so far. I'm sure the street version will be just as good. Can't wait to see these two on the show table together.

Nice start on both of the Dinos!

I've built several of those kits and have to say there are many problems on your way, but the end result will be worth it.

Do you have any reference photos of the interior of that race version? I built one few years ago:
http://public.fotki.com/nniemi/completed/dinos/dsc00049.html

Biggest problem was finding good reference material. Also wheels are a problem, as far as i know there aren't correct "campagnolo" wheels in 1/24 scale.

-Niko

Yours looks good Niko!
I've found very little as far as the interior goes, and the car is set up different in all the pics I have. I'm not sure exactly which pics are from the LeMans race, and which are from other races it was run after LM. The interior looks stock, and black leather from what I can see, with a racing harness for the drivers seat. I'll replicate it best I can with what I have.

All of my Dino pics are here:
http://public.fotki.com/CADguy/reference_photos/ferrari/dino/

At some point the car was crashed in the LM photos, the left rear is all smashed in.

I have purchased some "campagnolo" wheels from Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland. They are not correct though, I believe they are for the Daytona Ferrari, and not the Dino. I will use them though because they are closer to correct than the stock rims are.

It's funny that your GTS is blue, as that is the color I'm planning for this car. Either Azzuro Hyperion, or Azzuro California.

Thanks for looking, and for the comments guys.

Nice start. I'm looking forward to seeing these in November.

Ah! This build will be fun to watch. I remember building the basic version of this kit (not the enthusiast version) which had no engine, and hardly any chassis detail. I wish you luck on this duo- build, Matt!

Both look great!

Thank God you are doing a thread Matt - I've got both of them and this is the first time I've heard that there are fit problems. Hope I'll learn form your build.

This will be a rare treat!!:)

The carbs on the race car made me about fall out of my chair! Just gorgeous work on the racer and on the stock one so far. I'm waiting eagerly to see where these go.

Just :eek2:

lovely engine!
60+ parts, huh? phew.
I'm too lazy to look in the box - does this kit have pistons like my Porsche 356A Speedster?

Great job on that engine!

-Niko

that engine looks awesome Matt. Fantastic!!

lovely engine!
60+ parts, huh? phew.
I'm too lazy to look in the box - does this kit have pistons like my Porsche 356A Speedster?

No, this kit does not have the engine internals like the Porsche 356 enthusiast kits. I'm glad it doesn't too, because I would've probably cleaned them up painted them and glued them in.

An ACME member recently started one of those Porsche 356 kits, and I was amazed that they included the crank and pistons.

Thanks guys! :)

Nice work Mattman. The engine is nicely weathered, and the engine stand is very ingenious.

Is that 356 what Eric was complaining about being so small to work with?

Nice work Mattman. The engine is nicely weathered, and the engine stand is very ingenious.

Is that 356 what Eric was complaining about being so small to work with?

Ah.... yes, that would be the one I was complaining about. And to think I have to build 2 of them :screwy:

If my engines comes out as good as Matt's, I'll be very happy!!!

Well, the weather has cooperated 2 days in a row, and I was able to get the body primered, and painted. I have been cleaning mold lines off of the various other parts of the kit though.

I chose Cobra Colors Blu Sebring Metallic for this car. This color is a medium blue with a hint of green. The metal flake is small, and not overpowering.
This supra is painted with Tamiya Metallic Blue, and the 575 Maranello is painted with Cobra Colors Rosso Barchetta. The Supra is being built by my 9 year old son, and painting the 575 body is as far as I've gotten with that kit.

Sweet! as you know i have the crap Dino and i was wondering what those extra clear pieces were but its an engine stand... for which my kit doesnt include :mad: nice build, cant wait to make the 10 hour drive to an ACME meeting one day.... you guys are just killing kits up there! Nawlins sucks....


Keep it up Matt!

Beautiful!!! :)

cant wait to make the 10 hour drive to an ACME meeting one day.... you guys are just killing kits up there! Nawlins sucks....

Just come to our show November 12. Its a huge show and we'll all be there.

Nice work Matt! Those Dino's are awesome!

Now, those Dinos are very decent work. You do very excellent paint jobs!

Everything is looking great:) I'm sure the paint will look stunning when polished out:) Color is really nice.

Wowee! This is a beautiful project, sir, and I wish you the best in the final steps toward completion.
Gosh, it's unfair how much detail is given up in the standard Dino kit compared to this one. Makes me wanna go out and buy another one!

Most excellent! I think that color is a great foil to the red on the racecar. That will be a remarkable pair.

Looking Fine, Matt...... your repairs look perfect!

Terrific looking builds! The Blu Sebring is a great color on the road version- should be a beautiful pair.

Nice fixes.
Excellent colour and the build looks really great in the "exploded" view shot

paint looks great, and i love the engine work. I bet that a lot of stratos owners wouldn't mind a cast of that dino engine either. Also that inner fender of your looks great! I've never really tried laminating, doesn't the glue just make both parts soft and bubbly?

Very nice progress Matt. I really like the looks of Blu Sebring on the Dino.

The orange peel problem with the clearcoat on wide, flat surfaces like the hood and roof can be helped by spraying those areas first before moving to the corners and sides of the body. For the most part the paint just doesn't flow as easily on flat horizontal areas, but paint overspray that settles on those areas can also contibute to a rougher, textured appearance. Spraying the hood and roof first before anything settles on it will cut down the orange peel on these areas. Perhaps you already knew that, but I thought I'd mention it since the problem is illustrated so well in the close up photo of the Dino body.

Very nice progress Matt. I really like the looks of Blu Sebring on the Dino.

The orange peel problem with the clearcoat on wide, flat surfaces like the hood and roof can be helped by spraying those areas first before moving to the corners and sides of the body. For the most part the paint just doesn't flow as easily on flat horizontal areas, but paint overspray that settles on those areas can also contibute to a rougher, textured appearance. Spraying the hood and roof first before anything settles on it will cut down the orange peel on these areas. Perhaps you already knew that, but I thought I'd mention it since the problem is illustrated so well in the close up photo of the Dino body.

That makes sense, it seems to happen w/my models because I paint the ends first, and then the rockers and sides...I go from bottom to top while spraying because I want those hard-to-polish areas as glossy as possible. I don't worry about a bit of orange peel on the top surfaces if there's enough clear to level out w/polishing. The top surfaces are generally a lot easier to wetsand and polish than the sides which usually have tricky contours and lots of edges that you don't want to sand over too much. I'll try spraying my next body from top to bottom to see how this works.

Thanks for the tip Leon.

I spray the same as Zoom. From bottom to top.
I was having problems with uneven coverage, or polishing through the clear or paint on the lower halves of my cars. I started spraying bottom to top to ensure even coverage for the bottom.

Your suggestion makes sense, and I'll give it a shot when I'm ready to paint my next car.

I found a pic of a real Dino in Blu Sebring. She's gorgeous.

http://images9.fotki.com/v168/photos/4/431166/2092718/246_gts_0582-vi.jpg

Look at that Dino... I think I'm gonna cry.. :crying:

It's just so beautiful... And so is this model! Keep up the good work!

That looks very tasty!!:sunglasse

Looks amazing! I want to put on swimming trunks and take a dive into that paint!

Seriously.

:sunglasse

Matt, the paint polished REAL nice!!
waiting for the engine pics mate, as usual.....great stuff :bigthumb:

Nice!

Crap, sorry to see this. We're both cursed on our Ferraris lately :disappoin

Hang in there, and put it aside and work on something else if need be. I'm half tempted to go back and revisit my hood again now that I've had enough time to be mad at it and forget about it and think more clearly about how it can be more permanently fixed.

If it wasn't hard, it wouldn't be so much fun. Erm, so rewarding? Something....

bummer! still will be an excellent build in the end though, I am sure.

I'm not really sure what to tell you. I know how much you wanted it a convertable. Hmm..

Frustrating I'm sure. About the only thing that I might suggest is to replace your styrene re-inforcement with a piece of metal/brass? I would think that a length of brass strip applied under the frame would resist bending fairly well?

Murray